Friday, April 3, 2009

Letter from Barley to Rose

Barley has to write a letter as part of his homework every week. This Monday, he chose to write a letter to my gardening friend, Rose, who hosted a potluck at her house this past weekend.

We found this in his homework packet on Tuesday:

Dear Rose

Thanks for having us at the party. It was really fun! I can't imagine having as much plants as you guys have. Also, the (dog) got very lonely and barked when we weren't there watching him, having fun, and running around in the backyard with the other people.

From, Barley

I think he summed it up nicely (and he has better manners than me, since I forgot to write a Thank you note at all!).

I will add some details though, to more fully capture the event. We were celebrating a visit from a friend who had moved out of the area--she looked great, and we were all happy to see her. I got to eye my friend V.I.' s thermal pot, in which she brought an awesome soup. All the food was delicious, but I am a particular fan of soups, so hers gets a mention. A thermal pot is top of my wish list for Mother's Day.

Rose's garden is STUNNING, and the kids all ran circles around the house. There was kumquat pelting, and then kumquat pickup. My boys claimed not to have any ill intentions with all the fruit the were picking up, but then Barley gleefully crowed, "Look how much ammo I got!"

All the kids delighted in the stone paths cutting through the rose garden, and explored the raised vegetable beds. What a wonderful layout for games of imagination--lots of steps and secret places to explore, and excellent for hide and seek. The porch swing was a huge attraction, with a fun game I'll call "how many kids can pile on before it breaks?"

As for the adults, we hung out, chatted, knitted, ate, and chugged down a LOT of wonderful Meyer lemonade. We kept our hosts squeezing fruit the whole party. Thank you so much, Rose and T for a wonderful time!